Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Chile-nectarine Smash

We drank a lot of things on the river. A lot a lot of things. Beer (homebrew, cheap, fancy), white wine, rose, all kinds of reds, margaritas, champagne, vodka on ice, jello shots (do you drink jello shots? anyway), gin and tonics, and as much water as was necessary to keep us hangover-free. The highlight of all the dranks, though, was Haley and Simone's chile-nectarine smash. This thing is divine - sweet and spicy, cool and hot, summer in a glass. Is it as delicious when not imbibed while sitting on a pool float in the sun and water, surrounded by redwoods? Tonight I'm going to find out. I'm pretty optimistic.

Chile-nectarine Smash

1/2 a nectarine, sliced

pinch of sea salt

2 oz aged rum

1 oz fresh lime juice

3/4 oz chile-honey syrup

Gently muddle the nectarine slices in a shaker tin, then add a pinch of salt along with all the liquid ingredients. Add ice cubes and shake until chilled, then pour the liquid and cubes, unstrained, into a glass and garnish with a nectarine slice and serrano chile wheel.

Chile-honey syrup
Slice 1 serrano chile into 1/4-inch segments. Combine 1 cup of honey and 1 cup of water in a pan. Heat to a simmer, add the chile slices, then remove from the heat and cool. After 30 minutes, strain out the chile segments (Genevieve note: or don't!). Makes enough for about a dozen cocktails.

UPDATE: This finally happened, on Sunday night, and it was delicious! I need to get some rum that isn't Bacardi left by someone at our house after a rager, but even with the standard booze it's a delicious drink. Spicy and sweet and tart and eminently quaffable.